Commando
By far the hardiest and most prestigious of all infantry units, the commandos are the dream of every infantry commando. While they are not necessarily armed with anothing save a sniper rifle, these units are capable of unspeakable mayhem when used correctly. Not only are they fast on foot and take no attrition damage, they are also capable of sabotage, sniping and counterintelligence. These units are also not visible when stationary. Some elite units belonging to some factions, however, are capable of attacking normal units without resorting to their own special abilities. Such units tend to be costlier, but more effective at whatever they do. *Fast-moving unit, highly resistant to attrition and with a good line of sight *Can detect invisible units, snipe, sabotage and perform counterintelligence. *Unable to respond to other units save by using their own special abilities. Unique commando units *Sacred Band Elite *Fedayeen *Jaeger battalion *Vânători *Colonial Marines *Fallschirmjäger *Rangers *Mariniers *Marine Infantry *Royal Marines *Folgori *Fuzileiros *Giretsu Kuteitai *Armed peasants# *Partisans, Peasant Guerillas and Nationalist Thugs# Trawler *capable of gathering fish from the ocean. Broadly put, use destroyers for their anti-air, anti-submarine capabilities, and the costlier but more powerful cruiser against surface naval targets. Restricted units These units may be built from a naval yard, which can be built only in cities or major cities. Battleship *Is the hardest-hitting conventional surface vessel unless capital ships are considered *Very extensive LOS *Battleships are buildabe only by the 7 major naval powers, as well as Brazil and the Netherlands. Air carrier *Costly, slow unit, vulnerable to submarines, but has a powerful complement of torpedo bombers. *The number of torpedo bombers is increased for different factions (along with the addition of special units) to maintain balance *Carriers can be built by all major powers except Russia. Submarine Light, slow and fragile, submarines have a devastating attack against heavy ships, and are cloaked when not moving. Much later, however, they can be upgraded to become true submersibles. *Stealthy bane of heavy ships, but subceptible to destroyers and cruisers. *Submarines (I) are cheap, but Advanced Submarines (II) are costly, and available only to powers such as France or Germany. However, the survivability of Advanced Submarines is substantially higher, having more hitpoints and movement speed. *Submarines have enough payload to destroy civvy shipping, and suffer almost no damage from capital ships! Capital ship Capital ships are the biggest floating weapons around, and come in different sizes and shapes, and are available only to the 7 major powers. Capital ships are not only powerful, but they have different capabilities - that comes with a handicap. For instance, the Iowa-class battleship is the fastest-sailing, fastest-producing and cheapest capital ship, but clearly is outmatched by other capital ships such as the Bismarck-class battleship, in terms of firepower and armour. Capital ships are so big that (wht the possible exception of British and Russian capital ships) they canot be garrisoned in dockyards. NOTE: Germany and Japan receive 2 different capital ships, instead of 1. Capital ships have hit penalties against small craft, but can be used to take out destroyers and large targets. Most Tier 1 Battleships require only Stainless Steel from your Foundry, but the Tier 2 Battleships of Japan and Germany require both Shell Process and Replaceable Parts; for the Italian and French battleship programmes, however, only Mechanisation (Level 2 Trunk tech) and Logistics are required. See the following list for more details: *''Flores'' - has better rate of fire, range and accuracy, making it ideal for offshore bombardment. Empire of Japan *''Yamato''-class super battleship - immensely huge, powerful warship, comparable with the Bismarck class. But with poor speed, a construction penalty and a high pricetag to boot. Note-like all warships, Yamato is not an upgrade, but still requires some technologies to be built. British Commonwealth As a general rule, British ships are served by 3 main advantages: they have good range, excellent LOS, and the ability to regenerate after a battle. This ability is enhanced compared with tanks and infantry on land. Aircraft carriers *''Ark Royal'' - in addition to having good LOS and a variety of good torpedo bombers, Ark Royal has an enhanced regeneration capability and a slight speed bonus. Battle cruisers *''Town''-class cruiser - average power and durability, compared to the Aviso-type ships of France and Portugal, but can easily shoot them from afar. Capital ships *''KGV''-class battleship - average power and durability, but with good LOS, and can easily shoot from afar. Several Nelsons can take on a Bismarck, but might have problems with the bigger Yamato. You must have some ancillary research completed to unlock this ship. Germany Capital ships *''Bismarck''-class battleship - strong, immensely powerful, but one of the slowest to move - yet the slowest to die nonetheless in a heated exchange. Note-''Bismarck'' requires some technologies to be built. Submarines *U-boat - Replaces submarine, and is highly advanced, with a variety of tricks, such as better speed and weapon range than other submarines. The German U-boat can be upgraded to the Type XXII U-Boat for better performance Special *S-boat - unlike other warships, this is a weak, but cheap-producing gunboat, capable of taking out submarine and surface targets, and very effective at taking out air. Unlike other warships, the S-boat is known for being built of both timber and oil. USSR Capital ships *''Soyuz''-class battleship - Average-performance battleship, with a cheap pricetag, but hidden high ramp costs in metal, and a long gestation period. To create many capital ships, Russia must build as many naval facilities as it can. A player will then be forced to decide what sort of military force it needs, because its navy requires high micromanaging. Battle Cruisers *''Kirov''-class heavy cruiser - as with the Soyuz battleship, the Kirov also can be created in huge numbers initially, before it is slowed by its ramp cost in metal. slightly slower to build, but not as indefatigably difficult to build as the Soyuz. Kingdom of Italy Capital ships *''Littorio''-class battleship - average hull strength and weak range, but highly powerful main guns and engine. Unlike many other capital ships, Littorio doesn't need any auxiliary technologies to be created. Unlike other warships, Littorio ''can be built from the Anchorage, ensuring Italy can spam build capital ships well until the late game. Special *MAS Squad France Capital ships *''Richelieu-class battleship - Better than the Vittorio Veneto class but with a higher cost, and some ancillary research required. Aircraft carriers *''Béarn'' class - early aircraft carrier, is cheap to build but of inferior quality. *''Joffré'' class - cheap to build but is pretty "normal". Special Aviso (shared with Portugal): a cross between a destroyer and a motorboat. Although cheap, easily destroyed in combat, and not as effective as a destroyer. United States of America Capital ships *''Iowa''-class battleship - Average-strength battleship. Capable of outranging warships like the Vittorio Veneto class, but still fragile against other ships, especially such as Bismarck-class or Yamato-class warships. It however is distinguished from other factions by having a lower pop cost, and a fast build time. Theoretically, the USA can churn out quite a number of these warships. Cruiser *''Baltimore''-class cruiser - Replaces cruiser, battle cruiser, and destroyer. Has the best stats of each and every one. Aircraft carriers *''Yorktown-class'' - the Yorktown has a lower ramp cost, making it easier for the American player to produce these warships once the appropriate technology is acquired. Special *PT boat: cheap and fast unit, vulnerable to aircraft but has an attack bonus against all land units. Brazil Cruiser *''Minas Gerais''-class dreadnought - can be replaced by battleships later on. It's costly, but packs a far more powerful punch than other cruiser-class units in existence. Note that Brazil cannot build cruisers or battleships without Hierarchy researched. Notes For some factions, the only units available may be armed peasants and peasant guerillas. These units can sometimes be upgraded to a more powerful unit, but more often than not the path from peasant soldier to ultimate warrior can cost a great deal, and sometimes the end result is ever harder to replace. Category:Infantry